People aren’t making linux ports now and nothing is stopping them
Why would they? Linux gamers are an incredibly small percentage of the market, and there really has been no compelling reason to develop for it. Valve is trying to change that. If people start buying the Steam Machine for it’s console-like virtues, devs will have every incentive to port games to it.
Yet you somehow had the money for a laptop, which was more expensive than a tablet. You also had the money for a console on top of the laptop. There wasn’t anything stopping you from buying a good computer at the cost of the both of those. I’m not saying you weren’t right to make the choice you did, but don’t kid yourself, you just made that choice because you wanted to, because choice wasn’t cheaper.
I’m convinced tablets are a fad, too, mostly because they become completely obsolete faster than any other consumer electronic. Point is people don’t think their purchases through, most people just get a paycheck and figure out how far it will go.
Games on linux isn’t a huge hurdle in the slighest. The main reason devs don’t make games for linux isn’t even because linux desktop marketshare is so small, it’s because every single linux user knows full well he had better have Windows on another partition if he wants to game properly on that machine. If Steambox and SteamOS take off, then that would be a signal to devs that consumers are not accepting the status quo anymore.
Also, it’s not a risk to consumers because there’s nothing stopping you from putting Windows on a Steambox. While that is an annoying step to take if it turned out you had to, it’s not like you’re wasting $500 in buying a Steambox.
I dunno this sounds like some sort of chicken egg problem where there aren’t games so it can’t be successful and linux game support is severely lacking which makes game development difficult.
Furthermore many devs don’t believe PC gaming is an important platform due to extremely low sales, but windows porting isn’t extremely difficult due to the similarities between xbox architecture and windows architecture. So PC ports are more like "low risk (games already been out, the port can be shoddy and little work) for mediocre-to-low reward. Linux is a whole other beast…
I know, that’s basically what I was saying. SteamOS is giving devs the incentive to support linux.
PC sales are low compared to consoles, but the whole point of the Steam Machine is to steal console sales by making PC gaming as accessible as console gaming. I don’t know if anyone thinks SteamOS itself is going to convert people to Linux, but I don’t think it is. However, the Steam Machine aims to do that.
I’m no programmer, but I’m sure if devs could develop for the PS3, then they sure as hell could develop for Linux. PCs use the same hardware, regardless of the OS. The biggest difference we will see is Direct X vs OpenGL. If the game engine is built around Direct X, then that’s a problem. But like I said, if a game was made on PS3/PS4, then it was essentially using a OpenGL. I’m not trying to get into a DX vs OpenGL debate, but I think a quick look at the sales figures of the PS3 vs the 360 should tell everyone that the API used isn’t a deal breaker.
I’m noticing there is a lot of resistance for the Steam Machine across the web. Console gamers have been justifying their console purchase over a PC for years by saying “gaming PCs are too expensive”, “I don’t want to play at a desk with a mouse and keyboard”, and “I can’t be bothered to deal with drivers and incompatibility issues”, and now Valve is doing something to solve those issues and people are bashing them for the [currently] small linux game library. And the sad part is, an open source console is amazing for many reasons. The only one that doesn’t win in this situation is Microsoft.
Man, this thread should be interesting to read in 5 years.
We’re gonna look real stupid in five years when fighting games still aren’t on PC and most workstation computers are using some kind of Google OS, maybe Android.
You know what bums me out…ASW has made games on the Taito Type X arcade board, including BlazBlue and Persona 4 Arena, but they don’t bother with PC releases. The Taito Type X board they use is literally just an Intel Core 2 Duo, either an AMD or Nvidia GPU, and running Windows XP. They’ve literally made the PC games already, but they don’t care to release them. Of course, the released BB:CT, but a year after it’s console release and not on Steam.
By the time they released BB:CT, BB:CS was already on consoles. Then ASW was mad that BBCT didn’t sell well, of course not! If it was released closer to console release it could have took off.
Yeah, and the shittiest part was the crossplatform play between the 360 and PC had the potential to be awesome. Now that’s not even possible with GFWL on it’s way out, even if they were to release a PC port of P4A or BB:CSE. I suppose they could do it with the PS3(and BB:CP), but I’m guessing they’d have to jump through hoops for Sony to allow it. And they’d have to patch the PC game for a different API, rather than just using the existing DX version.
So people buy it, and say Linux doesn’t take off then they have to buy an expensive license for windows to put that OS on the machine to game on it?
To people who are into PCs an shit this isn’t big a deal but to the majority of people who avoid PCs because they take setting up, that doesn’t sound like an appetizing solution. It’s still a gamble. It’s paying 500 bucks for a box that MIGHT play stuff on it’s initial set up but if it doesn’t you have to pay 100 dollars or more to get windows for it or stream the game off your PC which is already game capable so why do you own a Steam Box again?
I mean I hope the Steam Box takes off, I wish Valve the best, but i don’t see how this isn’t an uphill battle for them to grab market share and interest outside of people who already into this shit, much less fighting game players who can pay 400 dollars or less (Depending on the fighter they are trying to play) and have everything work out of the box guaranteed.
we will all still be in da struggle
They could always torrent a Windows OS if they want to. Just saying. I’m looking at Amazon right now and the Professional version of Win 7 (lol, no one’s buying 8) goes for about $140. Not bad. You could maybe get it a little cheaper at a retail shop or ebay.
or they could try this for free. it gets better and better:
ReactOS® is an effort to create a Free and Open Source replacement for the Microsoft Windows NT® family that is compatible with both applications and drivers. The NT® architecture has always been highly flexible and powerful and its continued dominance in the computer industry means it is one of the most supported family of operating systems in existence, with its latest iteration being Windows 8.
As these days operating systems are little more than gateways to applications that users want to run, an open source NT implementation would allow users to continue using familiar programs in a familiar environment. The project seeks to embrace the strengths of the NT family while avoiding many of the configuration decisions that made older versions of Windows vulnerable and maintaining a lightweight environment so that a computer’s resources can be dedicated to what really matters to the user, running their applications.
It is an uphill battle, but Valve can do it if anyone can. The long term goal (I assume) is getting more people (devs and consumers) using Steam and cutting MS out of the equation. I’m not a PC gamer, but I really hope they succeed; not having to worry about new controllers would be awesome and as a 360 owner without a PS3, the latest Blazblue makes me sad and I expect the same come console release of P4U. Hopefully shit like that wouldn’t occur on an open platform.
I hear you, and I agree. Many people are going to buy the Steam Machine for the console experience, not to play on a PC. But the option is there, which does make it less risky. It’s not like when you bought a console like the Jaguar or 3DO many years ago, where if it failed to the competition it was essentially done and you sold it to buy a better console.
I don’t think the Steam Machine is really targeted at fighting game players, I think it’s more targeted at people who want the experience a PC gives them, with open source, free online play, mods, cheaper games, and more options all around. For the person that just wants to play fighters it’s nice for emulators and whatnot, but far more hassle than is needed, as opposed to just buying a PS4 and a few games a year. Personally, I play all kinds of different games, and I find the PC to be superior for a number of reasons. So having fighting games become stronger on the PC would mean I never have to buy another console just for fighting game.
Valve does has a huge task ahead of them. Making a PC as user friendly as a console isn’t going to be easy. I’m sure that’s why they’ve chosen to make their own OS, because there are just too many variables when using Windows. And I’m sure that’s why they’ve chosen to support specific hardware configurations. In doing so, they are able to make sure the out-of-the-box compatibility is there, and push a standard for developers to optimize their games. The success of SteamOS is going to be a direct result of the Steam Machine. If they sell, Linux support will no doubt pick up, so I’m hoping they catch on.
Linux is a limiting factor? How? You can get more out of your hardware because Linux isn’t bloated malware like Windows is. OpenGL specifically has been shown to run games faster than directx, add in the fact that on Linux, you could essentially run nothing but the game and you could probably spend less money on hardware.
Once PC gaming makes the jump to Linux, it will be the best thing to ever happen to PC gaming if you care about efficiency.
I guess you weren’t paying attention to the context in which I said that. I was referring to the game library currently available.
Sorry. My bad. Yes Linux would be a limiting factor. There’s a matter of principle here though, gamers should demand Linux ports so people can finally get around the Microsoft tax… For purely selfish reasons one could at least be happy with the fact that they can get more output with lesser hardware.
I’m ready for it. I prefer linux, but I never use it because the game library is so much smaller. I was hoping valve would offer some kind of streaming service to help with the transition, like Sony is proposing with Gaikai, but I can understand the reasons not to do that.
Most people had no clue that they even made a PC port of BlazBlue Calamity Trigger, that game is was like the biggest PC port fail for a fighting game ever. It was the first entry of the series so no one heard about it, and it was before the SF4 boom, and i can name a bunch of other reasons to it’s lack of success.